Endoscopic techniques have been approved by the FDA for management of obesity, with many new devices and technologies in development. The pros and cons of these approaches, and the questions to be answered, are covered in a review article by Andrew C. Storm et al in the November issue of Clinical

Despite advances in methods of clinical trials for ulcerative colitis (UC), there is still a large amount of variation in endpoints, even in definitions of response and remission, reseachers found in a systematic review published in the May issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The authors conclude that we need a

Rates of adequate serologic response to Haemophilus influenzae B (HiB) and tetanus vaccines are similar among infants born to women with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) treated with immunomodulator or biologic agents compared to women who did not receive these immunosuppressive drugs during pregnancy, researchers report in the January issue of Clinical Gastroenterology

Three years of long-acting release octreotide (octreotide LAR) significantly reduced liver volume in patients with polycystic kidney and liver disease, researchers found in a placebo-controlled study. These reductions, reported in the July issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, were maintained for 2 years after treatment ended. Polycystic liver disease (PLD)

Rectal indomethacin does not prevent pancreatitis following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), researchers report from a randomized controlled study published in the April issue of Gastroenterology. These findings contradict more than a decade of evidence that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) decrease the risk of post-ERCP pancreatitis (PEP). Acute pancreatitis is the

An expensive radiofrequency ablation technique known as Stretta does not benefit patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), researchers report in the June issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. In a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies, Seth Lipka et al found no evidence that Stretta normalized esophageal pH values, augmented lower esophageal

A long-term study of a hepatitis E virus (HEV) vaccine showed that it is 86.8% effective and that immunity can last for up to 4.5 years. In a blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial, Jun Zhang et al randomly assigned 112,604 healthy adults in Dongtai (in the Jiangsu province of China)

New direct-acting agents against hepatitis C virus (HCV) can cure the infection when it recurs in patients with liver transplants. Researchers reported findings from 3 separate studies at the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases last week in Boston. HCV is the leading

About the Author

Dr. Kristine Novak is the science editor for Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She has worked as an editor at biomedical research journals and as a science writer for 15 years, covering advances in gastroenterology, hepatology, cancer, immunology, biotechnology, molecular genetics, and clinical trials. She has a PhD in cell biology and an interest in all areas of medical research.